Malaysia naturalizes 7 players before the match against Vietnam

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) is rushing to add more players before the match against Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Malaysia wants to strengthen with naturalized players.

Tunku Ismail Idris, Chairman of Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT), shared on March 27: "The 7 players playing abroad will help the team. The important thing is that Malaysia has enough strength to compete in the top tournaments in the region and receive the respect of other countries."

Tunku Ismail Idris was the President of FAM before taking on an important role at JDT, one of the leading clubs in Southeast Asia today. He is said to be the person behind the decision to appoint Peter Cklamovski as the head coach of the Malaysian national team, and also helped FAM to draft and convince naturalized players to play.

The identities of the naturalized players have not been revealed, but negotiations and licensing are ongoing. In January, the JDT president said the players targeted were mainly from southern Europe.

Several prominent names playing in England were mentioned, including Josh Brownhill (Burnley), Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Chelsea), Tyrhys Dolan (Blackburn Rovers), Marcus Tavernier (Bournemouth), Milan van Ewijk (Coventry City), Zian Flemming (Burnley), and Jamie Shackleton (Sheffield United).

FAM is confident that the group of naturalized players can play in time for the match against Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers on June 10.

On March 25, naturalized duo Hector Herve and La'Vere Corbin-Ong shined as Malaysia won 2-0 against Nepal. With this result, Malaysia maintained their unbeaten record against Nepal in 8 encounters.

The victory brought 3 full points, helping coach Peter Cklamovski's team to rank 2nd in Group F, equal on points with Vietnam but with a lower goal difference. On the same day, the "Golden Star Warriors" defeated Laos 5-0.

Highlights Malaysia 0-0 Singapore On the evening of December 20, Malaysia was held to a 0-0 draw by Singapore at home, thereby officially being eliminated from the 2024 ASEAN Cup.

Source: https://znews.vn/malaysia-nhap-tich-7-cau-thu-truoc-ngay-dau-dt-viet-nam-post1541462.html